Audemars Piguet - The Geneva Watch Auction: SEVEN Geneva Saturday, May 12, 2018 | Phillips
  • Manufacturer: Audemars Piguet
    Year: 2002
    Reference No: 25829ST
    Movement No: 405'660
    Case No: E-20824 and N. 125
    Model Name: Quantieme Perpetuel Automatique
    Material: Stainless steel
    Calibre: Automatic, cal. 2120/2802, 38 jewels
    Bracelet/Strap: Stainless steel Audemars Piguet bracelet, max length 190mm
    Clasp/Buckle: Stainless steel Audemars Piguet deployant clasp
    Dimensions: 39mm Diameter
    Signed: Case, dial, movement and bracelet signed
    Accessories: Accompanied by Audemars Piguet wooden presentation box and outer packaging

  • Catalogue Essay

    The 1990s are a fascinating period for watchmaking: 20 years had passed since the quartz crisis, and the market was showing the first signs of a newfound interest for the field of mechanical timepieces, a trend that would fully blossom in the 2000s. The brands, however, started to react to these signals. The conservative style of the 1970s and 1980s - defined by simple dials and elaborated case designs - started to give way to bolder dial designs. Skeletonized dials are one of the results of this new trend: virtually nonexistent in the 1980s, they began to make their ways into watch designs in the first half of the 1990s. In the 1990s, three Audemars Piguet Royal Oak models featured a skeletonized dial: reference 14794 (a skeletonize time only wristwatch) reference 25729 (a skeletonize pocket watch with perpetual calendar and moonphases), and the present reference 25829.

    Reference 25829 (and its pocket counterpart) are powered by calibre 2120/2802, at the time the thinnest automatic perpetual calendar movement available on the market.

    Aesthetically speaking, reference 25829 is immensely charismatic. While sometimes skeletonized dials can be difficult to read, the design of this model, thanks to the four cutout subdials, is perfectly readable without sacrificing the openworks feel of the skeleton dial.

    The combination of sublime technical execution and unmistakable looks has over time led the collector community to consecrate this model as one of the most interesting, attractive and collectible complicated Royal Oak executions.

    According to the Archives of Audemars Piguet, the present watch was sold in Italy in 2002.

  • Artist Biography

    Audemars Piguet

    Swiss • 1881

    A specialist in the manufacture of complications since it was established in 1881, Audemars Piguet never ceases to impress with a rich history of creating bold, even audacious, timepieces underpinned by traditional watchmaking at its finest. This Le Brassus-based Swiss manufacturer is one of only two major manufacturers still owned by the founding family. Since its earliest days, AP is considered a leader in the field of minute repeaters and grande complication pocket and wristwatches. The brand is devoted to preserving the history of watchmaking in the Vallée de Joux, showcased at their superb museum in Le Brassus.

    Today, the brand is best known for its Royal Oak models, a revolutionary luxury sports watch launched in 1972. Other key models include early minute repeating wristwatches, vintage chronograph wristwatches, such as the oversized reference 5020, perpetual calendar watches and the Royal Oak Offshore, first introduced in 1993.

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Ref. 25829ST
A rare and highly attractive stainless steel skeletonized perpetual calendar wristwatch with moonphases, bracelet and box

2002
39mm Diameter
Case, dial, movement and bracelet signed

Estimate
CHF25,000 - 35,000 
€21,400-30,000
$26,500-37,100

Sold for CHF56,250

Contact Specialist
Alexandre Ghotbi
Head of Sale
+41 22 317 81 81
aghotbi@phillips.com

The Geneva Watch Auction: SEVEN

Geneva Auction 12-13 May 2018